Travel Limits & Incidental Costs

Subsistence Limits

A1. Accommodation and meal limits (overnight stay of 24 hours or more)

The University strongly recommends booking with one of the contracted
travel suppliers unless they cannot provide the option you need or are
more expensive (see 5.1 above).

You must book within the limits below unless:

you are attending a conference and need to stay in that hotel,
there are concerns about personal safety,
there are no rooms within the limit e.g. there is a major event in the area or you are staying overseas in a very expensive city.

If any of these reasons apply, you must provide suitable evidence to the budget holder and obtain their permission in writing prior booking.

If you are away on official University business and have to stay overnight, the following limits apply:

	London limit	Rest of UK limit	Overseas limit
Bed & breakfast*	£200.00 inc. VAT	£140.00 inc. VAT	£200.00 inc. VAT
Other meals**	£45.00 inc. VAT	£45.00 inc. VAT	£60.00 inc. VAT
Alcohol	The University will reimburse the cost of one alcoholic drink taken with an evening meal. This must be claimed within the evening meal limit.
Service charge / tips	These must be claimed as part of the relevant meal limit. Service charges are usually included on the bill or you can add a tip when paying by card.

* If you book ‘room only’, the room cost plus any breakfast bought separately must not exceed this limit.
** This is a rate to cover your lunch and evening meal if staying away overnight. The University will only
reimburse the actual cost of meals taken within this limit - you must provide receipts.

Meal limits (no overnight stay)

If you are away on official University business but not staying overnight, the following limits apply:

Meal	What you can spend / claim	When you can claim this:
Breakfast	£10.00 inc. VAT	Only if your business journey requires travel before 7.00am. Claim actual cost only.
Lunch	£15.00 inc. VAT	If you are away on business between 10am - 3pm and lunch is not provided. Claim actual cost only
Evening meal	£30.00 inc. VAT	If a business trip results in a much longer working day than usual and you are still travelling after 8pm. Claim actual cost only.
Service charge / tips	included within meal limits*

A service charge will be reimbursed if included in the bill.

If a service charge is not included in the bill and you are visiting a country where tips are expected (e.g. USA), give an appropriate cash tip and claim as an overnight incidental expense.

A3: Overnight incidental expenses (no receipt required if university-funded)

If you stay away overnight and incur incidental costs, you can claim up to the HMRC limits below.

Location :	What you can spend / claim:	When you can claim this:
UK	Up to £5.00 per night	If you need to claim for expenses that you can’t obtain a receipt for e.g. cash tips in cafes, overseas public transport, cash toll charges, laundry charges / toiletries for business trips over 7 days
Overseas	Up to £10.00 per night

These limits may be applied cumulatively.

For example, if you stay away in the UK for two nights, the maximum limit would be 2 nights x £5.00. You could spend £2.00 on day one and still spend up to £8.00 on day two.

No receipt is required but you must list any items purchased in detail on the claim form along with the cost.
Please note this is not an allowance - you must only claim if you have actually incurred expenses.

Also, if you are claiming incidental on R or RE codes make sure your department is aware as if audited those costs will be considered not eligible.

A4: Mileage claims for use of own vehicle

Please remember to be a Registered Authorised Driver & to have business insurance on your car or you cannot claim mileage.

Type	HMRC mileage rate	Additional information:
Car	● 45 pence per mile for 1-10,000 miles ● 25 pence per mile from 10,001 miles +	The rate for cars applies to petrol, diesel and electric vehicles. It covers the cost of owning and running a vehicle (e.g. road tax, servicing, repairs, wear and tear) as well as fuel.
Motorcycle	● 24 pence per mile
Bicycle	● 20 pence per mile
Passenger supplement	● 5 pence per mile per passenger (the passenger must be a work colleague also on official University business)

Costs that are not allowed by any method

Expense Type

University Policy

Travel-Related

When travelling on University business you must only claim for travel costs and expenses that are necessary in order to perform your duties. The following costs are not allowed but this is not an exhaustive list.

Check before incurring any expense if you aren’t sure.

Commuting from home to your usual place of work (see FAQs)
Business travel insurance (the University provides this)
Interest charges or card charges on personal credit / debit cards with the exception of foreign currency payment fees
Passport costs
Upgrades to a higher class of travel or accommodation than the policy allows (you must pay for upgrades with your own money)
Use of a departure lounge
Laundry service / dry-cleaning for short trips (7 days or less)
Toiletries for short trips (7 days or less)
Make-up
Over the counter medication e.g. headache tablets
Mini-bar drinks and snacks
Films or videos
Spa, gym and health clubs
Clothes
Parking or speeding fines, removal of wheel clamps
Pet care e.g. kennelling or cattery costs
Damage to own private vehicle (please claim on your own insurance)
Use of chauffeur driven cars or limousines
Souvenirs
Entry fees for tourist attractions*
Bar bills*

*Allowed if the event is part of client entertainment.

Goods and
services for use
at work

The University has contracts and approved suppliers in place for most goods and services for work purposes.

Examples include:

IT hardware (e.g. PCs, laptops, tablets, peripherals)
IT software
PAYG mobile handsets
Books
Courier services
Stationery
Staff uniforms

The Finance website explains how to buy goods and services for work use.
You must not pay for such goods / services with a personal card unless you are on a field trip and cannot continue working without them (Please refer to Requesting a Purchase Order or Amazon or Conference Purchasing pages)

Working from
home expenses

These will not be reimbursed.

A5: Business Entertaining Limits

Type	What you can spend / claim:	Additional Information:
Lunch	£30.00 per person attending	These limits include the cost of any alcoholic drinks taken with the meal. The ratio of staff to external guests must not exceed 4:1
Evening meal	£60.00 per person attending

Expense Type

University Policy

Business entertaining

involving staff and external guests

e.g. entertaining visiting academics or other external visitors specifically for business development purposes.
The University will reimburse claims up to the limit on 1st table, including the cost of any alcoholic drinks, for meals taken in restaurants or
similar establishments only. In exceptional circumstances, the limit may be exceeded subject to obtaining prior written approval from the budget
holder.

The ratio of staff to external guests must not exceed 4:1

Guest names must be listed on the claim form. This is an HMRC rule.
You must not claim for the costs of "entertaining" where only University or subsidiary company staff are present.

University events for students / alumni

e.g. social events in colleges for students.

These events should usually be hosted on campus. Any catering for on-campus events must be ordered from one of the preferred catering suppliers in accordance with the University’s Food Safety policy, unless the catering will be restricted to packaged snacks (e.g. crisps, nuts) and drinks.

These may be purchased from local shops.

Events attended by staff only - no external guests

Work-related events e.g. team building events, away days, staff training should usually be hosted on campus. Any catering for on-campus events must be ordered from one of the preferred catering suppliers in accordance with the University’s Food Safety policy.

A purchase order must be raised for any events that take place off-campus.